Smallpdf

Smallpdf is a browser-based PDF suite covering roughly the same ground as Acrobat Pro: converting to and from Office formats, compressing, merging and splitting, OCR, redaction, form filling, signing, and — unlike most web PDF tools — editing the text already inside a document. Its own editor page is explicit that direct PDF text editing requires a Pro subscription.

The price gap is the argument. Pro is EUR 7.50 per month billed annually, against roughly EUR 25 for Acrobat Pro, and redaction and OCR are included rather than reserved for the top tier.

Two real limits. Text editing works only in the browser: the Windows and macOS desktop apps ship a reader, compression, conversion, merge, unlock and protect, but no editor, so a document has to be uploaded to be edited. And there is no PDF form creation — forms can be filled but not built — and no document compare.

Smallpdf AG is a Zurich company founded in 2013, registered in the Swiss commercial register as CHE-461.243.982 at Steinstrasse 21, 8003 Zurich, with PwC as auditor. Co-founder Mathis Büchi is president of the board.

Its Terms of Service state that “Your relationship is with Smallpdf AG, a company incorporated under the laws of Switzerland”, with the services governed by Swiss law and disputes heard in the Canton of Zurich. The data processing agreement names the same entity as processor; no other group entity appears in either document.

The company has been an acquirer rather than a target. It bought PDF Tools AG of Zurich for around USD 30 million in March 2022 and sold that business on to Apryse in July 2026. A Swiss AG does not publish its share register, so the cap table cannot be confirmed from public sources, but no acquisition of Smallpdf itself is on record.